


Whatever Will Be, Will Be

by fridaysblues (taemin)



Series: Chinguline Reapers [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Everyone is Dead, Gen, Grim Reapers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-03-16 22:17:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3504782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taemin/pseuds/fridaysblues
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baekhyun dies and is introduced to the glamorous world of reaping souls. He's got roommates. They like to laugh at him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whatever Will Be, Will Be

Baekhyun hadn't really thought about death all that much before he died. What's the point, you know? It was going to happen someday and there wasn't much you could do about it but live your life and wait. He always said he was going to be ninety-five, in some nursing home, surrounded by his kids and grand-kids and great-grand-kids. 

So when he wakes up in a dumpster at twenty-two with Park Chanyeol's sunny grin leering down at him, he feels like he's been ripped off—just a little.

"So," Chanyeol says, as casually as if he was asking a question about the weather, "what's it like to be murdered?"

 

Baekhyun doesn't remember, of course. One of those nice defense mechanisms about death. Your life is divided into two eras: pre-death, post-death. A lot of people think everything that matters happens pre-death, and for your average soul, maybe that's true. But Baekhyun's been tapped to be a new Reaper. So for him, post-death promises to be far more interesting than his first twenty-two years had been.

 

"Shouldn't you be wearing a black hood, or something? Carrying a—what is that thing? The big blade. Thing," he says, gesturing with his hands. Chanyeol snorts.

"A scythe. And nobody's worn those since, like, Sunjong." He takes Baekhyun by the elbow and yanks him back just in time for a truck to drive past on the shoulder. "Watch it."

Baekhyun looks dazed. "You mean I can actually get hit?"

"Yeah," Chanyeol says slowly, and you can tell by the look on his face that he thinks Baekhyun's a little stupid. "You're not invisible, you know. The laws of physics don't change just because you're dead."

"But I can't die _again_ —that'd be impossible, right? So I'm basically immortal."

"We prefer 'indestructible'—it's more accurate. You're not just a soul. You have a body. It still hurts when you get hit, you know." The crosswalk light changes and Chanyeol looks both ways before he drags Baekhyun across the zebra. "And it scares the hell out of people when someone gets hit by a truck and then walks it off like nothing happened, okay? You bounce for forty feet. So save that party trick for emergencies."

Baekhyun considers this information for a beat before he smiles. "Cool. What else?"

 

Chanyeol lives in one of the tall, newly-renovated apartment complexes at the city center, glass and steel for forty storeys. They take the elevator up to the thirty-fifth floor and Baekhyun's surprised to see two other pairs of shoes lined up neatly next to the front door.

"Reapers have roommates?"

"You know how expensive rent is in a place like this?" Chanyeol asks, fumbling in his pockets for his key ring. Before he can find them, the door swings open wide, and a short, dark-haired boy with very full lips answers the door.

"Took you long enough," he says. "We were about to come looking for you." His eyes linger on Baekhyun for a moment. "So this is him?"

"Baekhyun, Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, Baekhyun. And yeah, I know. Took me forever to find the dumpster."

Someone scoffs from the vicinity of the kitchen. "Are you serious? How many dumpsters can there be in Hongdae?" Another boy emerges, half-eaten apple in his hand. "Hi, Dumpster Boy." His smile is friendly, mouth generous and wide.

"Look, you've got _no_ idea what it's like to work murders, okay?" Chanyeol snaps, toeing on a pair of slippers and stalking towards the kitchen. Baekhyun stands by the doorway awkwardly, hands clasped behind his back waiting for instructions on what to do next.

"Can't be that hard—"

"You get an address of a hospital or a house. I get a general vicinity, because people are _stupid_ and hide bodies in dumb places. I just—" Chanyeol pinches his nose. "I just wish people would leave their crimes out in plain view so I didn't have to work so hard."

"How inconsiderate. Think of the Reapers," Kyungsoo deadpans, eyes falling back on Baekhyun. "Hey. Dumpster—Baekhyun, sorry. You can come in, you know." He gestures at the couch. "Sit down. Take a nap if you want."

"You hungry?" Jongdae asks, taking another bite of his apple. "I remember I was _starving_ when I woke up on this side of things."

"I—can eat?"

Chanyeol laughs again. He's been laughing all day and Baekhyun kind of loves it, the helpless way he buckles at the knees like everything's the funniest joke he's ever heard.

"Chanyeol, haven't you explained anything to him?" Kyungsoo frowns. "He knows, right?"

Baekhyun looks between Kyungsoo and Chanyeol curiously. "I know what?"

Jongdae's the one laughing now. "Of course. Leave it to Chanyeol to forget the most important part."

"Hey, I was easing him into it," Chanyeol says defensively. "It's a huge bomb to drop on someone all at once."

"I know _what_?" Baekhyun repeats. A thought occurs to him and he goes pale. "Wait. Am I going to hell?"

All three of them shriek with laughter at this. Kyungsoo has to hold onto Chanyeol for support, who looks like he's seconds away from collapsing to his knees. Jongdae has tears in his eyes.

"No," Jongdae manages, clapping like an excited seal. "Unless Seoul is your idea of hell."

"You're going to become one of us," Chanyeol explains when he can finally breathe again. "You're going to be the fourth Reaper on our team."

 

Baekhyun vaguely remembers his career aspirations pre-death. He'd signed up to audition for Superstar K and was taking piano lessons from some graduate student from Seoul Arts University. He worked part-time at a restaurant waiting tables to pay for them. Still lived at home with his parents.

He'd never considered Grim Reaper as a viable career path. It seems even more dubious than _musician_ , honestly. Sure, the pay's shitty either way but at least musicians are the life of the party. Now he's the last person anyone would want to invite.

Not that he really has a choice in the matter. His fate is set.

 

Chanyeol makes up a bed for him on the couch. "You'll have a bed eventually," he explains, apologetic. "We only just found out that you were coming this morning. Hope you don't mind. It's pretty comfortable, though." He pats the arm lovingly. "And it's only for a few days, anyway."

Baekhyun nods and sinks down into the plush cushions. He's exhausted, completely overwhelmed at the complete shift his life has taken today. It's a lot to take in all at once.

"So what do I do now?" he asks.

"Kyungsoo went to HQ to pick up your watch. He's been around the longest, so let him explain this stuff to you, but—" He holds out his wrist and pulls up his sleeve to reveal a black wristwatch. It looks fairly ordinary, except the face is devoid of numbers. There's a little silver etching of a skull at where twelve o'clock would fall. He taps the face with his fingernail and it illuminates purple. _No Scheduled Reaps_ scrolls across the face in bright, white lettering.

"Whoa." Baekhyun leans closer, hands hovering around the watch. He's afraid to touch it. "I get one of those?"

"Everyone does. Standard issue." Chanyeol tugs his sleeve back into place. "This is how you know where to go and who to Reap. But like I said—let Kyungsoo talk to you about it. He explains it better than I can."

Baekhyun sits back. His head is spinning. "And I can only Reap the people you tell me to?"

" _I_ don't tell you to. HQ is in charge of handling the assignments." Chanyeol raises an eyebrow. "I mean, you can technically Reap whoever you want, but there are serious punishments for Reapers that go rogue. You don't want to do that."

"What about the guy who killed me? Do I get a free pass?"

"Revenge isn't a good enough reason to break protocol," Chanyeol says. He looks worried, like he thinks Baekhyun might try it anyway.

Jongdae appears out of nowhere and plops down on Baekhyun's other side. "Nobody knows who did it, anyway." He flashes a grin. "I checked the papers."

"But _I_ do," Baekhyun says, and until he says it, he does know. The minute he focuses on the memory of his attacker's face everything goes hazy and dissolves. "I mean—I think—I did."

"Don't bother. The more you think about it, the faster it goes away," Chanyeol says. "You don't get to keep your pre-death memories."

"You can't interfere with investigations anyway," Jongdae says. "Totally messes with the natural order of things. HQ gets involved, blah blah. Chaos."

"You can't stop death, either. You _are_ death. If people miss their appointments—the backlog is a nightmare to deal with." Chanyeol gets to his feet. "So if you have the urge to _save_ someone—don't. You're not doing anyone any favors."

Jongdae pats Baekhyun's knee. "It's not all bad. If you don't think about it directly, then you kind of get to keep your memories. If you just sort of know something and can't figure out why, don't try and figure it out. That means it's something from your past life."

Baekhyun sighs glumly. "But what about my parents? My brother? He just got married."

"Won't recognize you."

Baekhyun feels the enormity of his situation crashing down on his head. He's never going to get to see his family again. At least—he won't see them and know that they're his family. They won't hug him or box his ears and complain that he's singing too loudly. He'll never eat his mother's kimchi ever again. He'll never meet his brother's children.

"Don't look so sad," Chanyeol says encouragingly. "You've got us!"

Baekhyun manages a shaky smile. "How did I die?" he asks quietly. Jongdae's hands move to stroke Baekhyun's throat. Baekhyun thinks he's just being weird until he realizes that it hurts.

"Judging by these bruises, it looks like you were strangled." He offers Baekhyun an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, they'll fade."

"But who would do that?" Baekhyun finds he feels more indignant about dying than he thought he would. He'd expected to be sad. Scared, maybe. But really, he thinks about waking up in that dumpster and just feels insulted. _I had shit to do! And I didn't even get to die in a really cool way. Strangulation. Pfft. Boring._

"That's pretty personal. Somebody who wanted you to shut up." Jongdae slings an arm around Baekhyun's shoulders. "Don't worry about it. It's done. And if you were an annoying pain-in-the-ass pre-death, you're going to fit in just fine with us."


End file.
